So,I did my first shift with an in cab camera,it wasnt nice,felt like there was someone watching me all the time.It was a sad day in my driving career and in some ways,Im glad Ive got more yesterdays than tomorows on the road.Thing is,if we all stick together and refused to drive these vehicles collectively,the problem could be solved tomorrow,and if pigs could fly…
Our place is phasing them in.
Dont give a ■■■ really. I will still drink when im thirsty. Snack when Im hungry. They have a no stopping rule. The second they do me for eating or drinking i will start stopping at every services en route for a drink. Cant have it both ways!
One of several lines in the sand for me, cameras instead of mirrors is another.
Not taking a vehicle out with a working in cab camera, not taking a vehicle out without mirrors, not in the least interested how lyrical the sales bod waxed whern he got the bod who doesn’t know one end of alorry from the other to sign on the dotted line.
Its my licence and my skills or lack of them, so its my choice what i’m prepared to do to earn my pay, these couple of lines won’t be crossed.
The more cameras round the outside the merrier, been working with these for some time now, very useful if you have the in cab display and can choose which of the cameras is the default setting.
What others do is entirely up to them, if a company employs enough numpties that they end up having to fit in cab cameras because no insurer will otherwise touch them then i suggest the problem lies in the boardroom and the layers of suits down from there, your choice employers.
The newest Scanias at our place have cameras everywhere outside, none inside yet. All the cameras constantly record and upload to the cloud.
After any events, the footage can be reviewed.
I’ve been told I’m getting one of these trucks in 8 months.
Not really thought about the cameras until now though.
We’ve had a camera system installed for the past 2 or 3 months. Just one box on the windscreen with a camera facing forward and one looking back into the cab. I tried obscuring it with my sat nav to start with but it sets off an alarm in the cab, so I started to use earbuds to drown out the alarm. But I realised it wasn’t sustainable. If I wanted to work there I would have to accept them and as a new pass my options are limited. To date, touch wood, I’ve never received any comment that suggests the footage has ever been reviewed. So I assume they would only be looked at after an incident. It’s not nice but you can sometimes forget it’s there.
Place i work has them but they onky record and upload when you harsh brake ect.
Apparently they cant watch it live but who knows if thats true, can face them down or block them if you wanted nothing ever comes of it.
My place has had inward facing cameras for around 4 or 5 years. They upgraded them to live feed about 12-18 months ago. I’ve never got used to it and it’s always on the back of my mind. I never feel comfortable eating my sandwiches, even though I’ve never had any feedback about anything. For me it’s been the worst change through my driving career. It’s a psychological thing. It feels horrible.
ezydriver:
My place has had inward facing cameras for around 4 or 5 years. They upgraded them to live feed about 12-18 months ago. I’ve never got used to it and it’s always on the back of my mind. I never feel comfortable eating my sandwiches, even though I’ve never had any feedback about anything. For me it’s been the worst change through my driving career. It’s a psychological thing. It feels horrible.
A packet of crisps or a swing of a drink is one thing, but I wouldn’t like to eat my sandwiches while driving!
stu675:
ezydriver:
My place has had inward facing cameras for around 4 or 5 years. They upgraded them to live feed about 12-18 months ago. I’ve never got used to it and it’s always on the back of my mind. I never feel comfortable eating my sandwiches, even though I’ve never had any feedback about anything. For me it’s been the worst change through my driving career. It’s a psychological thing. It feels horrible.A packet of crisps or a swing of a drink is one thing, but I wouldn’t like to eat my sandwiches while driving!
Surely eating a sandwich is easier than opening and rustling about eating crisps?
Chap i know got the boot from one of the supermarkets for eating a piece of fruit, no accident or anything, presumably just unlucky that it was his turn to be watched that day.
So long as all you do is moan about these things they’ll continue to be rolled out, state from the word go once they start to consider implementing such devices that its not up for consideration and the management had better get their hgv licences dusted off or hurry up and take an hgv course because you won’t be complying and they’ll be delivering the goods…once one or two of you show you mean business others will take heart.
You can stop them being fitted, we did.
Juddian:
Chap i know got the boot from one of the supermarkets for eating a piece of fruit, no accident or anything, presumably just unlucky that it was his turn to be watched that day.
presumably he was happy to be out to go and work somewhere else without cameras?
So long as all you do is moan about these things they’ll continue to be rolled out, state from the word go once they start to consider implementing such devices that its not up for consideration and the management had better get their hgv licences dusted off or hurry up and take an hgv course because you won’t be complying and they’ll be delivering the goods…once one or two of you show you mean business others will take heart.
You can stop them being fitted, we did.
at my place there was no discussion, just turn up one morning and they’re fitted. Yes I know you might be in a position to refuse, but I would have been out of a job.
You see Stu, that’s just one of the reasons why you skill yourself up work hard reliably and dilligently so making yourself as difficult to replace as possible, also helps if you get into more specialised work where it’s even more difficult to replace you.
Then when a bunch of you make it plain you won’t go along…
Another operator in a similar field to ours fitted cameras over one weekend, strong union presence there too, not a single wagon left the premises, the cameras were removed that day and no hint of them returning.
There is legislation on your side on the govts own website about such things, did the company hold prior consultations or perform an impact assessment before fitting these cameras, if not then the company have put themselves in the frame for successful constructive dismissal claims.
What next will the drivers there bend over for.
Oh and yes, the sacked chap works elsewhere but at companies who don’t have in cab cameras.
Swordsy:
Our place is phasing them in.Dont give a ■■■ really. I will still drink when im thirsty. Snack when Im hungry. They have a no stopping rule. The second they do me for eating or drinking i will start stopping at every services en route for a drink. Cant have it both ways!
This is basically what i told them where i work if they point cameras at me i will never ■■■■ in a lay-by again, into the services every time regardless.
Juddian:
You see Stu, that’s just one of the reasons why you skill yourself up work hard reliably and dilligently so making yourself as difficult to replace as possible, also helps if you get into more specialised work where it’s even more difficult to replace you.Then when a bunch of you make it plain you won’t go along…
Another operator in a similar field to ours fitted cameras over one weekend, strong union presence there too, not a single wagon left the premises, the cameras were removed that day and no hint of them returning.
There is legislation on your side on the govts own website about such things, did the company hold prior consultations or perform an impact assessment before fitting these cameras, if not then the company have put themselves in the frame for successful constructive dismissal claims.
What next will the drivers there bend over for.
Oh and yes, the sacked chap works elsewhere but at companies who don’t have in cab cameras.
I absolutely agree with your position, but this is a new career for me. Passed in January, first fulltime job in April, cameras installed within a month, I don’t think I could cite unfair dismissal to them
You need to fight it before they’re installed. Having a union helps. I was at DPD Hub 5 a few weeks ago and there’s a sign up on their wall about them installing them in the future. The union are dead against it and are going to fight it all the way. Asda tried installing them in their Wakefield depot without any consultation with the union and the union made them disable them. Without a union you’re screwed basically which is why companies like Maritime just do what they want to their drivers.
The way I see it, they’re a perfect way to bypass a workers rights to get rid of them. It’s quite hard to sack someone these days without a good reason. If you ■■■■ the wrong person off in the office or start being awkward about certain things, a camera is a great way to get rid of them.
Scrutinise a driver for long enough and you’ll find a reason to get rid of them. I don’t care who you are or what you say, we all do things that could potentially get us the sack.
Cameras are a tool to get rid of drivers they don’t like, I’ve seen it happen. I refuse to drive for companies with them in.
stu675:
Juddian:
.I absolutely agree with your position, but this is a new career for me. Passed in January, first fulltime job in April, cameras installed within a month, I don’t think I could cite unfair dismissal to them
Can see your position there Stu, all you can do is find your own niche in time, hopefully avoiding such places who need to spy on their staff.
My annoyance, if you can call it that, is experienced drivers that just accept anything and everything thrown at them by mincing pen pushers who don’t one end of a wagon from the other.
Terry T above has it sussed, and agree completely about the union aspect, we put our heads together as a union and squashed the idea flat.
Newstart90:
Place i work has them but they onky record and upload when you harsh brake ect.Apparently they cant watch it live but who knows if thats true, can face them down or block them if you wanted nothing ever comes of it.
Yep, our lot decided to fit those type a couple of years ago., only 2 or 3 of us kicked off about it, but the rest just rolled over…as usual.
The constant surveillance ones are the ultimate ■■■■ take, and that would be a bloody good reason/excuse for me to call it a day no arguments.
Reading this and some drivers attitudes towards them, 
I can see why they put these abominations in, it’s because on the whole they know drivers will not resist, they should be nipped in the bud asap before they become mainstream and ‘the norm’.
Speaking of drivers accepting unfair situations…I’ve got to confess that there was an incident in my case (that I ain’t prepared to go into, and not camera related) after I was dropped in the ■■■■ by a particular arse hole, where I accepted a situation that is against my principles, after I had to decide after careful consideration whether to go along with it and have to leave a job I like, (and then apply for jobs and work that I did not really want to do) or put up with it but win in my own way.
The only thing that bugged me is they think they have got a one over me, but in this particular example of constant feed cameras, there is no way of craftily getting around it and winning, so as I said, it would be time to tell them to ■■■■ off,.and wave them goodbye.
We’ve got 360’ cameras in our place records to a hard drive.
Never looked at unless there is an incident
The monitor screen in the cab only turns on when indicating or reversing
Was great a month ago when a bloke who had parked his car outside a site accused me of hitting his car, soon changed his tune when I told him I would phone the police and let them review the CCTV footage.
However having a camera facing me all day would be a deal breaker unless everyone else in the company had one watching them all day.
As for mirror cams , one branch recently had a Merc on hire with them fitted and as a lot of the places we deliver to have very restrictive access, with sometimes reversing with bushes hitting both mirrors, the mirror cam got damaged on one side and the vehicle had to wait on someone coming out and fixing it.
As far as I know the company has no plans to put mirror cams on our vehicles but the decision might be made by someone who has never sat in a lorry in their life.
Duncan
stu675:
Juddian:
You see Stu, that’s just one of the reasons why you skill yourself up work hard reliably and dilligently so making yourself as difficult to replace as possible, also helps if you get into more specialised work where it’s even more difficult to replace you.Then when a bunch of you make it plain you won’t go along…
Another operator in a similar field to ours fitted cameras over one weekend, strong union presence there too, not a single wagon left the premises, the cameras were removed that day and no hint of them returning.
There is legislation on your side on the govts own website about such things, did the company hold prior consultations or perform an impact assessment before fitting these cameras, if not then the company have put themselves in the frame for successful constructive dismissal claims.
What next will the drivers there bend over for.
Oh and yes, the sacked chap works elsewhere but at companies who don’t have in cab cameras.
I absolutely agree with your position, but this is a new career for me. Passed in January, first fulltime job in April, cameras installed within a month, I don’t think I could cite unfair dismissal to them
I appreciate your position I was there too when i passed class 2. took me a little while to find some decent regular work and i put up with a lot of crap because i felt that i didnt have a choice as i didnt have the magic 2 years experience. However we all have our breaking points and it comes to a time when you have to decide if the job security/wage is worth the micky taking.
^^^^^^;:
That’s the whole point mate, this scenario is the ULTIMATE Mickey take.
As I said even I found myself reneging on my principles on something else, which is very out of character for me,… but this is more an aspect of self pride and self respect, no matter how good and enjoyable your job was before they implemented this crap, it’s just too out of order.
Not to mention being uncomfortable knowing somebody could potentially be watching me,.whether it was 24 hours or 24 seconds…don’t care, it’s irrelevant.
I would take this as an insult to me as a grown up and as a professional, maybe sounds a bit ott to some, I don’t really give a ■■■■ tbh, but that’s my position on this.